KU AD expects fans for home opener, explains why Big 12 decided fall football is safe
After deciding to postpone its fall sports seasons Tuesday, the Pac-12 Conference released a 12-page document explaining why its health experts believed it was not safe to continue with contact sports.
So what did Kansas Athletics — along with other Big 12 presidents and athletic directors — hear from their own medical professionals that made them decide to continue forward with a 2020 fall sports schedule?
KU athletic director Jeff Long said Wednesday that the group ultimately believed its own circumstances were unique.
“They’re really very different situations, if you look at the West Coast and the high levels of COVID virus infection. It’s still going on out there. And it ebbs and flows everywhere,” Long said. “But I think they’re in a very different situation than we are (in the Big 12). And so I think it’s understandable that we could arrive at a different conclusion than they do, looking at the medical information we have.”
Long spoke more than 30 minutes on a conference call Wednesday, touching on a range of topics from football to Olympic sports to basketball following a news-filled day for the league.
The Big 12 announced its conference football schedule earlier in the day, remaining attached to the SEC and ACC in its hopes to play a 2020 football season.
Both the Pac-12 and Big Ten announced plans to postpone fall sports the previous day.
“The dynamics of what’s happening in those states in the west or the states in the north are very different than what we have here,” Long said. “So we were going to make a decision based on the five states and the 10 schools in the Big 12.”
The league officially did that Tuesday night. The school presidents and athletic directors gathered for a virtual meeting that included Kansas Medical Center doctors, who were there to provide information and answer questions regarding the virus. Most of the medical experts on the call, Long said, were set up by KU chancellor Douglas Girod, who is a surgeon himself.
After the discussion, the Big 12 chose to move ahead while also requiring additional safety protocols, which include increased COVID-19 testing and return-to-play protocols for athletes if they do test positive.
Long said the Big 12 presidents and athletic directors spent “hours” talking about what measures were needed to continue with a fall season.
“It feels good to be able to provide what we believe is a safe path forward for these young men to get to play college football,” Long said.
As a result, KU has some logistics to figure out.
First up is securing a non-conference opponent, which Long says should be announced by Thursday. That game will be played on Sept. 12, and perhaps could still be against Coastal Carolina, a team the Jayhawks had on their original non-league slate before COVID-19 hit.
Long also said KU plans to have fans — less than 50% capacity for now — at the team’s first home football game, saying the athletic department would be making presentations to both the university’s COVID-19 strategy team and county officials while hoping to get its blueprint endorsed.
“Unless something changes dramatically with a COVID outbreak or something in the community, I think we will have fans in the stands,” Long said. “That’s just my thought at this point. It would have to be approved really by the county.”
Then there are other fall sports. Long said many of those details had not been finalized, though volleyball and soccer would only be playing league schedules.
As far as football liability goes ... Long said KU would not require players to sign waivers to participate. He did say players would have the option to opt out of the season if they felt uncomfortable, though he’d not heard from any athlete yet who’d chosen that option.
Overall, Long felt comfortable about his players’ health because of his team’s previously formed relationship with Kansas Medical Center and Kansas Team Health.
“We’ve protected ourselves by having the highest quality medical care possible for our student-athletes,” Long said.
There still could be obstacles ahead.
Though Long said he was “confident what we have in place now is safe and effective, based on what we know today,” he admitted there could be changes based on future events involving the virus. That could require quick adapting, with even a possibility that the Big 12 might discontinue football in 2020 if the situation called for it.
After meeting with his football players Wednesday to explain the new protocols, though, Long admitted he couldn’t help but feel like the season had received a new rebirth.
“There is risk, and there’s risk anytime you play football, whether it involves COVID or not,” Long said, “but we think we have provided them a safe way forward.”
